What I’m Reading Now

Well, lots of stuff, mostly research for the novel.

But I’m also reading Flesh and Fire: Book One of The Vineart War.

 

When I preach, I remind myself that the Collegium was created for one purpose: that the world not forget Sin Washer, and how–and why–He came to us.

And thus begins the prologue in which the world is revealed, a world where Vinearts have the responsibility of tending the magical grapes and making the wine-blood that was created by Sin Washer’s blood.

Magic and wine-making, a compelling combination, and the first book that has held my interest enough to make me sit down and read it in a long time.

That’s the book du jour on planetpooks.

Well, I didn’t intend to leave, but I’m back!

I don’t know who is still here, if anybody.  Perhaps you have abandoned blogdom for facebookdom or twitterdom.

Perhaps you still keep an eye on a few blogs, and perhaps this is one of them.

The state of pooks these days is that I’ve written about 100,000 words in the past few months.  Yes, I’m writing a novel, not a screenplay.  Not just a novel, but the first of a trilogy.  Oh, and this 100,000 words is maybe 2/3rds or so of it.

I’m finding myself wanting to chronicle this process, and this is the most practical place to do that.

So yes, I’m back, and I’ll be writing about writing.  If that intrigues you, stick around.

In the meantime, I’m struggling with a plot snarl which I hope to work out over chips and salsa at the local Tex Mex joint, and will return later to play “catchup.”

How have you been? Feel free to let me know!

If you’re new?  ~waves~ Let me know that, too!

Pooks

Time out for some fantasy.

So, because my new project is a novel three novels in the fantasy genre, I’ve been reading a lot of fantasy lately.  And even though my project isn’t romance, it does have a strong love story and I’ve been looking for strong fantasy love stories and so, with no further ado, what I’ve been reading lately, the good parts version.

The Rest Falls Away: The Gardella Vampire Chronicles

This is a pretty good read. It should be sexier than it is, but that’s just because I think there’s a certain expectation of a vampire novel that is billed as a paranormal romance.  It has been called a combination of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Pride and Prejudice.  Well, the Buffy part is right, but the P&P? The setting is Regency London and the main character is having her first London season when she discovers she’s a hereditary vampire hunter.  Ignoring the fact that P&P wasn’t about a London season, the only thing this has in common with Jane Austen is the time period. My biggest complaints with this book are mainly some anachronisms that crop up fairly often and the fact that this book, while set in England during the Regency, doesn’t sound English.  At all.

I wouldn’t be recommending it, if it didn’t have strengths, however.  The strengths–an interesting presentation of the premise and a plot that keeps you wondering.  I said this was a romance, and it’s marketed that way, and it certainly has romance in it, but in this book you even find yourself wondering exactly who the hero is and who she is going to end up with and I like that in a book.  So, I recommend this if you just want a good, fast and entertaining read and if this sounds interesting to you. It’s the first in a series and I think there are four books now.  I’ll eventually read more, but am not in a hurry.

The Smoke Thief (The Drakon, Book 1)

This is a book that would not have attracted me by its premise, simply because I truly haven’t been into fantasy that much in the past and a race of creatures called Drakon who are dragons who can turn to smoke and to human form didn’t excite me. But oh, this is a writer whose style is lush and sensual, whose characters are lush and sensual, whose story is lush and sensual (um, I seem to be stuck here) and who knows how to create wonderful conflict between a hero and heroine that isn’t easily resolved. I loved the first book, and each book has been better. This is another that’s set in England, this time in the 18th Century, with forays into Europe, especially the Carpathian mountains. I can’t say that the author has an English voice, but her voice certainly has a richness and fantasy quality that makes up for that. Then there’s the fact that the relationships and the dangers are so compelling. Yes, the author occasionally does things that annoy me but in this case I love her books so much I forgive her and don’t even pause to be annoyed. And you might note, I wasted no time picking up the sequels in this case. I’m just saying.

Lord of the Fading Lands

The good news, I guess, is that this is a total fantasy in fantasy lands that don’t have to sound English, because this is not an English author and she doesn’t write with an English voice. But this is an extremely intense story about the last of the Feyrein (I hope I have the terminology right; I am not good about keeping track of this sort of thing) who is sometimes man and sometimes a creature that flies but (I think) is like an extremely large black cat-beast. Over a thousand years ago when his wife was killed, the Feyrein part of him (the beast) flew into a Wilding Rage and scorched the earth and killed over half the people in the land in his grief. Needless to say, they aren’t real comfortable with him around and he stays away, and has done so for, well, a thousand years. But now he’s suddenly got a Truemate–a bond that is stronger than the bond with his wife could dream of being–and, well, she’s not sure she wants to be his Truemate, all things considered, and… Well. Fantasy. Romance. Intense. Compelling. First in a series. I’m reading it now and am sure I’ll be reaching for the next to see what happens.

Also, a couple of books have been recommended to me that I now have but haven’t started reading:

Storm Front (The Dresden Files, Book 1)

That doesn’t look like a fantasy to me, or at least not the kind of fantasy I’m into, but I’m told it has an angsty love story so I’ll give it a shot. Again, first in a series.

Taltos

And this one because… um, I’m not quite sure, but maybe because it has something to do with Celts and such? Again, I’m giving it a shot.

So help me out here. Have you read any of these? What did you think? Do you have other fantasy romances or fantasies with strong love stories as subplots? Give me titles, people. Give me a few details.

Especially if they’re British.  British would be a huge bonus.

So.  Anybody?

Writing Fantasy

Anybody here write fantasy?

Do you have any good books on the subject you can recommend?

I’ve noticed this one by Orson Scott Card and this one is part of a three-part series, which is rather daunting.

If you write fantasy, which books on the subject did you find helpful?

Of Daemons and Messages

I tried to read The Golden Compass but was confused by the daemon thing and never got very far into it. Then I listened to it on audio. The audiobook is fabulous with wonderful performances. I didn’t love it–but I certainly had to keep listening until I’d heard all three books to see how it ended.

I’m not sure whether I’ll go see the movie or whether I’ll wait until it comes out on DVD.

But I do have one firm opinion about the books and about Phillip Pullman.

He resents C.S. Lewis and Tolkein and their Christian allegories, and set out to write a fantasy novel that went in the opposite direction.

No matter how popular or successful his novels are, and no matter how many awards they win, I believe he failed.

People read Narnia and Lord of the Rings and love them without ever noticing or caring that they might be Christian allegory.

Phillip Pullman couldn’t pull that one off, it seems. And not only could he not pull it off, he was sneaky in the way he approached his goal of going against the whole Christian allegory thing. He gave his children a very direct and explicit goal to save the world, and that goal was on-the-nose “this is my message to the world” and there was nothing about it that was subtle or creative. Yes, the worlds and characters were, but the quest?

Meh.

I’m not saying what it is, of course. If you haven’t read the books, I’m not going to spoil them for you.

But I find it significant that he didn’t reveal the true quest until the second book. It seems pretty calculated to me, that he chose a quest that a lot of people would balk at, but didn’t reveal it until the second book after people had gotten vested in the story.

I’m not protesting the trilogy in any way. I know that they’re much-loved and much-respected and those who are trying to boycott the movies? Well, people can boycott anything they want; I don’t care. It’s a free country.

But I crossed boycott lines to see The Last Temptation of Christ simply because it was being boycotted. I went to the film specifically to prove that I disapproved of the boycott.

This time?

Meh.

Whatever.

It’s like Samuel Goldwyn said: “Pictures are for entertainment, messages should be delivered by Western Union.”

I’ll prefer my entertainment from Tolkein and Rowling, thanks all the same.

That said, I took the test to see what my daemon would be. (If you haven’t read the books, a person’s daemon is their soul, only it appears as an animal spirit kind of thingy that is your companion throughout your life.)

I kind of like mine, I guess. It’s not exotic or fancy, but I like it.

What Is Your Daemon?

SONGBIRD – Your daemon may be a song bird if you are a true free spirit. You don’t do any harm to anyone, but go along your merry way. You work hard and you play hard. You may be very talented and you use your talent to add happiness to the world. You may be a hopeless romantic, and probably put your family and significant other before anyone else. You might be a little vain at times, but no one can ever fault your for it. Take this quiz! Quizilla | Join | Make A Quiz | More Quizzes | Grab Code